This Scarlet Sage came straight out of my Burpee Wildflower, Hummingbird & Bee mix, and wow—what a transformation! The fiery red blooms are nonstop eye candy for hummingbirds and bees, turning my patch into a mini wildlife show. I’m keeping them happy with plenty of sun, well-draining soil, and occasional fertilizing, plus deadheading to extend the bloom season. Anyone else growing Scarlet Sage from a wildflower mix? Would love to swap tips or just gush over how magical this plant is!
by Spiritual_Touch630
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I thoroughly recommend sages of all kinds for people’s yards, there are native ones almost everywhere, they smell fantastic, hummingbirds love them, bees of all kinds love them, and they tend to be pretty attractive.
The biota of North America program has maps with salvia species’ endemic areas, as a suggestion:
https://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Salvia
If you like scarlet sage a lot, you should try adding pineapple sage! It has the same lovely red flowers for pollinators, but it smells (you guessed it) like pineapple and its edible
I have some of this planted in my garden in Portland. From what I understand, it’s borderline whether it will return in the spring. Keeping my fingers crossed.
https://preview.redd.it/eqtx1au7dm7g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=15f6f3dfa2a69c4b37262f18ce590e81d004ec71
We have these little salvias coming up everywhere in our rock walkways in 9a. 4” tall and blooming! They were seeds that dropped when we did a fall clean-up of the larger salvias. And another group will come up around March. We still have some butterflies coming through to appreciate them. The photo doesn’t do justice to the way the blossoms seem to glow. I think these are salvia cocchinea (red) and summer jewels (pink).